James: But if you’ve seen Mike you want to be Mike Donahue great blue eyes.

Morris: Boy he is one handsome man.

James: And a terrific product, by the way.

Morris: Oh yeah! This is great!

James: Yeah, I’ve seen your product before at other building shows, and we have not yet had the opportunity to discuss it, and I’m glad that you made your way to our broadcast location. Mike, welcome.

Mike: Thanks for having me.

James: And the product is called?

Mike: It’s the Diamond Pier.

James: Diamond Pier.

Morris: I am so disappointed when I go to someone’s property.

James: Yes

Morris: And I’m asked to do something, and I look at their deck from the backyard.

James: OK.

Morris: And I see these precast concrete piers. Yeah sitting directly on the dirt.

James: Yes. And the deck is like the high sea.

Morris: Yeah. And I shudder because I know that eventually the deck will be destroyed because of the lack of proper foundation.

James: Correct.

Morris: And also, when I have to do a deck, I can’t build a deck unless I know it’s going to stay. And so I dig piers.

James: Right.

Morris: I don’t put a little footing with a precast block on it. I dig a pier.

James: Right. And you put steel on the pier

Morris: And I put steel in the pier.

James: Sometimes you tie it together.

Morris: Always.

James: OK.

Morris: And I have to tell you that this thing that Mike is offering, the Diamond Pier, is absolutely amazing.

James: Tell us a little bit about, Mike. In your own words.

Morris: Explain it in your own words, Mike. I just love this device.

Mike: Right. So it was years ago. We were replacing a pier right along the water’s edge in Long Island, and we came up with this idea. And the Diamond Pier is basically a lightweight concrete head, and then steel pins driven down into the pier at engineered angles to lock into the soil much like you nail in nails

Morris: Toenails!

Mike: This nails into that undisturbed soil. So, for the builder, we’re talking a day or two off a deck job because there’s no digging, there’s no waiting for the code official to run a tape measure down. There’s no mixing of concrete and waiting for that to cure. You basically show up at the site, you put your footers in, and you are building a couple hours later.

James: Wow.

Morris: You know I think this is amazing, and this is engineered so that you can get different loads in different soils.

Mike: That’s correct.

Morris: Based on the length of the road that you drive.

Mike: That’s right

Morris: And you drive it with the jackhammer.

Mike: That’s right, and its length and diameter of the rods.

James: Length and diameter?

Mike: Right.

James: You call this the – What is this component here?

Mike: The pier head.

James: The pier head. So the pier head has different sized holes into which the bearing pins are inserted.

Mike: That’s correct.

James: And their length and their diameter dictates what the load and what the soil condition.

Mike: That’s correct, and we can take loads from about 2,000 pounds to about 6,300 pounds with this system.

James: Wow. Now there’s a threaded rod on the top of this and that’s to accept the post bottom.

Mike: That’s correct. You use a regular six by six post base is attached to the anchor bolt that’s embedded in the concrete head, and then you just set your post, and off you go.

James: Now something like this? The cost?

Mike: About $140 for the smaller one, the DP 50, that’s everything included. And then the larger one which is if you had a roof to float or an outdoor jacuzzi or kitchen or whatever might be $190.

James: Okay.

Morris: That’s about 60 percent of the price of digging a pier.

James: Right

Morris: Or 50 percent of the price of digging the pier, getting it inspected, pouring it, cleaning up the mess.

Mike: Right.

Morris: The sauna tubes, getting rid of the excess concrete after the concrete truck leaves.

James: A short load.

Morris: I got to tell you something. This is a money saver. And the labor? Huh! What a money saver.

James: Hey Mike, you said no digging, but in truth there is. We’re not doing the deep excavation, but I do see that there’s a little surface digging to embed this pier cap. Yes?

Mike: Yeah that’s correct.

James: About six inches, eight inches, ten inches, whatever?

Mike: It’s ten by ten by about eight inches into the topsoil. Right into the lawn.

James: That’s a fraction of what one would otherwise need dig.

Morris: That’s a shovel dig. That’s not an auger.

James: And it’s available at retail?

Mike: Yes we go through a retail channel. So check with your Lumber Yard building supply store, and you can reach us online at DiamondPiers.com. That’s Diamond Piers with an “S.”

Morris: If you’re a DIYer this is for you, baby.

James: Right. Phil’s brother, he’s Mike Donahough. And check out his product. Pretty cool! You can get more information by going to the show note section of our web site at onthehouse.com. Don’t you touch that dial. There’s more from the Remodeling Show/Deck Expo after this.

About Us

James and Morris Carey, known as The Carey Bros., are nationally recognized experts on home building and renovation. They share their experience as award-winning, licensed contractors with millions of people nationwide through a weekly radio and online streaming show. The CareyBrosPros is a way to reach the contractor and professional and share our experience, wisdom and weekly tips.